Workshop and Co-Creation Facilitation

Lots of workshops are poor.

We try and make sure ours are better than the rest.

We don’t think a group of people turning up to what they view as a few hours off work is a route to success.

Nor do we think that a group of even the most committed people turning up and ‘doing it on the hoof’ works either, if what you want is excellence rather than mediocrity.

We believe that preparation and professionalism are key.

Our invitations are produced professionally, joining instructions are online, as is pre work, which is then completed and analysed online.

We select creative venues and theme events to the subject.

We use a variety of stimulus and techniques to generate ideas, develop them and evaluate them. We might have music playing, we might send people somewhere else to do things, we might change groups, we might introduce surprises, we might get people to work on their own for a while, we might get people to fill forms in from time to time.

We will use whatever it takes to produce output that is progressive and new. And which answers the brief.

However, we do not believe in those silly techniques that are sometimes used that make people feel uncomfortable. We won’t ask you to stand in a circle throwing a ball at each other, or ask you to describe your most disturbing childhood memory, both of which we’ve been subjected to in the past!

Everything we do is relevant and actionable. We like clear actions at the end of workshops with responsibilities and timings defined, not just a pile of flipcharts with a loose agreement to meet later to discuss further.

We will use innovate methods if necessary. For example, for the right co-creation projects, children’s unconstrained minds can be valuable, and it can be a good learning experience for them, run in conjunction with schools.

In Romilly St, originally a series of four Georgian town houses, Kettner’s was first opened as a restaurant by Auguste Kettner, (chef to Napoleon III) in 1867. Popular with famous names such as Oscar Wilde, Edward VII, Lillie Langtry, Agatha Christie and Bing Crosby, Kettner’s was renowned for hosting risqué parties. More recently it continued to be a Soho institution whilst owned by Peter Boizoit, founder of Pizza Express. But it is now owned by Gondola Group, who have sadly turned it into a pastiche: if you have ever enjoyed Kettner’s in the past don’t visit it’s website. Jay Rayner of the Guardian wrote an article describing recent developments as “the killing of a culinary landmark”. We hope that like so many things in Soho, it will be revived one day.